Does the EU Funding Increase Competitiveness of Firms by Supporting Organisational Changes?

Martinez Felipe, Potluka Oto

Abstract:
Competitive firms with a good economic performance contribute to social development and
quality of life. Countries and regions support competitiveness of firms through public policies
and public funds. The research concerns question whether financial support from public funds
actually helped to increase competitiveness in firms through organisational changes. This paper
explores the relationship between competitiveness of firms (measured by sales divided by
employment) with organisational structure changes and the amount of financial resources from
the EU Structural Funds. The data were collected from the Czech Statistical Office and a survey
among Czech firms. The estimates provide us with conclusion that only the European Social
Funds assistance had a positive effect on productivity, but not organisational changes in firms.
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